information for practice

Since the 1960s, it has been understood that family background characteristics are a primary determinant of student achievement, accounting for as much as 93 percent of the variance in student achievement, according to one study.b However, recent research has reclaimed the centrality of the school and neighborhood with new results derived from better quality data about students’ classrooms and communities. Although there is no consensus on the exact contribution of family, school, and neighborhood to student performance, this research shows that school and family factors contribute equally to average test scores, with neighborhood conditions explaining a smaller, but third-largest portion of student performance.c Family members influence children through their attitudes towards education and work, as well as through the resources they provide for their children’s safety, security, and well-being.d At school, teaching methods, how children are grouped together in classes, and curricular content all affect what children learn. Finally, neighborhoods can affect children by influencing the extent to which children have access to adults who serve as role models or who monitor the neighborhood and the extent to which they are exposed to violence and environmental conditions that can affect health and learning. Neighborhoods also influence children’s peer groups.